Blog

Dec 26, 2024 18:00pm

What Now?: Forgiveness

197 Views

The following comes from the devotional book “What Now?” by Ashley Akers. To learn more, go to www.whatnowdevo.com.

Forgiveness

Scott and I got married when I was just shy of 19 years old. I was excited to start my new life with him, and I vowed that things would be different in my new home. I.couldn’t.wait.to.get.out.of.my.house! I thought that when I moved out all the bad would just vanish from my mind and I could move forward with my life and not turn back. In a sense, I ran away from my old past, but I still harbored unforgiveness in my heart toward my father. Three weeks after I was married, my father went into the hospital and passed away at the age of 53. I no longer had the opportunity to settle my unforgiveness towards him. Honestly, at that point in my life I didn’t feel ready to let it go either. I wish that I knew then what I know now about forgiveness, because I wasted a lot of time in my life. It wasn’t for another several years before I finally decided to let go and forgive him in my heart. But, once I did, I felt freedom from the burden of it. Paul explains to us in Colossians 3:12-13 why we must forgive.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

How easy is it to accept forgiveness for ourselves but not extend forgiveness to others? Very easy. By grace, when we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins, He does. Immediately. If we have made that step to ask for forgiveness, we are required to forgive others. Immediately. Just as Jesus does for us. Let’s look at Matthew 6:14-15 to see what will happen if we choose not to forgive.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Wow. That is deep. And hard. But it shows us how important it is to forgive. Unforgiveness harbors resentment and bitterness in our hearts that consumes us. You know what I’m talking about. Jesus wants us to be free from this and forgiving others by grace (when they don’t deserve it) is what will cleanse us. You may wonder, though, how many times should you forgive a person if they continually hurt you? Matthew 18:21-22 gives us this answer.

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

This is a lot of forgiveness! What Jesus was getting at in this scripture is that we should freely forgive. Always.

When you forgive, I encourage you to treat the person like they have been forgiven. The talk and the actions must match. When you truly forgive, most importantly, it restores your relationship with Jesus. I wasted so much time in my life with unforgiveness and I don’t want that for you. Time is short. Forgive. You won’t be doing it for the other person; it is for you and your relationship with Jesus. I’m praying for you.

Reflection Questions

1. Do you have any unforgiveness in your heart toward another person? Who and why?

2. Are you willing to release the resentment and be free from it? If so, please do it now.